Aside from our feet which are covering miles it seems each day, Margaret and I have found the Metro to be a good mode of transportation although a bit more difficult in ways than the London Underground.

Notre-Dame is the grand cathedral so many come to Paris to see. I had talked with Margaret about my trip in 2008 up to the tip-top of the left tower and she did not mind the wait of about an hour or so to get inside. Once inside we climbed about 500 steps to reach the top and moved briskly up a staircase that became more narrow as we went up. Margaret snapped the image below to show you how worn the steps have become using the person ahead of her to illustrate.

She took this of me on the way back down.

Margaret snapped this tourist shot of me with some of the famous gargoyles in the background. They have wires up to keep you from falling, jumping, or getting carried away trying to get that perfect shot while you’re walking around the upper levels.

I know this shot has been done a thousand times or more but I just love having one to call my own.

If you squeeze in through here and climb up some wooden stairs, you can see the bell that rings in the tower.

When you climb the rest of the way up the stone steps to the top of the tower, you are treated to long distance views like this one and the two below.

While we were on this first upper level, Margaret was graced with a blessing from above while shooting over in the far left between the two gargoyles you see there. A pigeon perched high above her let go with a shower of poo hitting her right on the top of her head with enough force to go everywhere including her camera. She laughed it off with more humor than I would have and after a quick cleanup carried on with her photo shoot.

Safely back on the ground we went inside for a walk around the massive interior of Notre-Dame. We were a bit put off by all of the cameras flashing and people posing especially when flash photography was banned and some people were clearly trying to pray. People seemed to forget that this was a house of worship first and a stop on the “must see”  list for visitors second.

This priest seemed bothered by the behavior of the masses as well.

This is a slightly crooked view of the altar cross from behind.

Some places need a bit of repair.

I must have touched the wrong button as this pink was unintentional.

We left as they were lighting the candles for the evening service.

Here is a last look at the inside.

Outside there were more folks dressed for a big day.

And color choices which left me wondering how he  … yes he, managed to find shoes to match those pants.

I’ll be back with more about this bridge and what I saw there later as well as a story from the bookstore below.

Here are a few night shots of Notre-Dame.

Notice the moon in this photo and how pretty Notre-Dame looks in pink.

* Margaret just read this post and said that she had some pink interior shots as well and she was using two different cameras so it must be something (lighting we didn’t notice) that made some images look pink.